Apocalypse Cancelled!

Rating: 9/10 (11 July 2013)

Pacific Rim is the most ambitious project undertaken by Guillermo del Toro at this point in his career. I'm a huge fan of his work. Pan's Labyrinth and the Hellboy films are among my personal favorites. Anime fanatics who are familiar with Neon Genesis Evangelion will be quick to notice the striking resemblance to some of the "mecha" (giant robots) featured in the movie, but the similarity ends there. Although the majority of big-budgeted Hollywood movies that have been released over the years were derived from comic books, classic cartoons or novels with a solid fan base, this film is a cut above the rest. Del Toro took a risk and created his own version of "Transformers" far relieved from Michael Bay's commercial-like robots and in all honesty,he just might give him a run for his money.
In a not-so-distant future where giant beasts or "Kaiju" wreak havoc in major cities across the globe, our only fighting chance of defeating these creatures is through the Jaeger Program. The giant robots aptly called "Jaeger" are driven by two pilots where it's controlled simultaneously by melding their minds through a neural bridge. I'm not going into further detail but they completely redefined what "drifting" means. Other countries have joined the Jaeger Program including China, Russia and Japan but Australia's Striker Eureka and USA's Gypsy Danger were given more screen time. The intense battle scenes between the Jaegers and several types of Kaiju are almost surreal. I don't even know why they have to reboot "Godzilla" when this film just showed us several versions of his ilk. There was one particular scene when the Kaiju decided to take off with his bat-inspired wings and Gypsy Danger have no other choice but to shift into Voltron-mode wielding an enormous sword while suspended in outer space ( I guess they're trying to pay tribute to the classic Japanese anime).
Charlie Hunnam was the perfect choice to play Raleigh Becket, a Jaeger pilot with a rebellious streak and the film's main protagonist. Becket's new co-pilot Mako Mori portrayed by Rinko Kikuchi played her part well despite her English sounding more like Japanese. However, she compensated for it with her remarkable Kendo fighting skills. Idris Elba who played Stacker Pentecost,leader of the Jaeger program delivered his part exceptionally well and steals every scene he's in. Even "Hellboy" star Ron Perlman had a small role as Hannibal Chau, a black market dealer for everything Kaiju-related. The remaining cast did what was expected from their respective roles.
There's so much visual feast in this movie to revel in for fans of the genre and for the average moviegoer looking for a more satisfying cinematic experience. After watching a plethora of blockbuster movies in IMAX 3D, I have to say Pacific Rim is a standalone film that will captivate you from start to finish.